May 27 2008 Nursing Newsletter

§§§ Nursing@Bellaonline §§§
Newsletter
Proud to Be a Nurse

Nightengale Pledge

I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly,
to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully.
I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.
I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping
and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty
will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to
the welfare of those committed to my care?

Critical Thinking

Can you make good decisions without using critical thinking?

Yes, I suppose you can but it would be purely by accident.

Critical thinking is the ability to think a situation through using sound judgment and beliefs to come to a conclusion. The individual must assess the situation, make an interpretation, analyze and evaluate it to make the right decision.

If a choice is made without critical thinking, it is left up to chance whether the decision will be the right one. A good example would be a person who buys a car. The color of the car is red, just the color you wanted, so you buy it. It could be a great car or it could be a sports car with only two seats and you needed a sedan. Critical thinking is that process where everything is taken into consideration before making the final decision.

Nurses have to use critical thinking to be able to make the right decisions for their patients.

Health and Fitness

Check out the article I just wrote on quitting smoking. Have you ever noticed many nurses smoke? Why is that? We know better than anyone the ramification.

I think it is because of the stress we are under at work. It gives us an excuse to take that ten minute break. Those who donít smoke usually donít take that break during the day but they should. Everyone needs a few minutes away from the unit, especially when working 12 hour shifts.

There are better things you could do with a ten minute break, than smoke a cigarette. Take a power walk, read an article in a magazine, or call a friend.

If you have been thinking about quitting, read my article in Bella online. I know how difficult it is to quit, I smoked for thirty years. I quit over eight years ago and it was the best thing I ever did, you can too!

Finance

If you live under a rock, you may not have heard the country is in leaning toward a recession. What does that mean for you and me? It means our house is not worth what it used to be. It means you may have taken out a hefty equity loan when the market was good but now the bank is telling you that your home is not worth the amount of that loan.

It could be that your spouse or significant other has been laid off.
It could mean you canít afford the gas to get back and forth to work.
It could be that your debt is climbing but your income is not.

Financially, this is a tough time for all of us.

Over the next few weeks, my goal is going to be how to make it better for all of us. If you have any suggestions please let us know.

Travel Nursing

Have you thought about traveling as a nurse? It is a great way to see the country for free, actually you get paid. If you are very adventurous you can even travel internationally.
It is a great way for young nurses to experience the excitement of travel while getting paid. Travel nursing is also a way to meet facinating people, who have the same interests as you.
If you have thought about travel nursing, here is a great site to check out.http://www.travelnursing.com/

Education

Have you thought about continuing your education?
I suggest that you do, it is a way to open up more career opportunities for you.
I will give advice every week on this subject in my newsletter but if you have questions, please email me.

Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter. These are the subjects I will cover each week. If there is anything else that you would like to see, please let me know.